Noddy and Big-Ears in Toyland

Like him or loathe him, Noddy is an icon. Even today, 60 years after his 'birth' and just over 40 years after his creator's death, he is probably the main character to be associated with the name Enid Blyton. For many children, Noddy was their introduction to Enid Blyton and once they were hooked there was a tasty menu of Blyton books to move on to.

The marketing people did an excellent PR job as not only was there a wealth of merchandise to enchant the small child, numerous books of all shapes and sizes were produced — strip, tall, giant, tiny, pop-up, big and board — all took their place alongside the main Noddy Library. In roughly a twenty year period between his conception and Enid's death, 154 books of various shapes and sizes graced the shelves of the bookshops.

When a child wasn't actually reading it was possible to have a full Noddy day from the moment they rose in the morning and washed with Noddy soap, before cleaning their teeth with a Noddy toothbrush and toothpaste, to bedtime at night, when they slept in a Noddy nightdress or pyjamas, tucked in with Noddy sheets, beside a Noddy bedside light, which if turned on would reveal both Noddy wallpaper and curtains.

He was created in wood by Old Man Carver, but was soon off to Toyland and from then on was constantly in trouble, a small child's dream of the perfect 'naughty little boy' — but a boy with a house of his own and a stylish red and yellow car. He was always in trouble with PC Plod, but Big-Ears was often on hand to offer fatherly advice. Tessie Bear was a good friend and in later books Bumpy Dog became a constant companion.

Much of the success of Noddy was undoubtedly down to the colourful illustrations of Harmsen Van der Beek, and the various illustrators who took up the mantle after Beek's death in 1953. The original style was maintained by illustrators such as Robert Tyndall, Peter Wienk, Mary Brooks and others. His current image is much changed to fit in with various television series and new Noddy stories appear in barrowloads, but these have little relevance to Enid Blyton's original work.

Non-series Mixed Contents Books

Games and Puzzles...

There have been a number of Noddy board games, jigsaw puzzles and card games over the years, including the jigsaw puzzles produced by BeStime as part of their numbered series throughout the 1950s and 1960s...